Foundations to Flourish

Welcome to my journey of self funding a trip to Korea to finish my studies under the mentorship of world manipulation champion, Hyunjoon Kim.

I decided to set up a GoFundMe page as part of my fund raising efforts. Link below

https://gofund.me/161bd8b7

The purpose of this GoFundMe is to continue my learning journey as an artist. In magic we have no formal education. So if we choose to learn or study it is usually completely self funded.

The money raised by this Project will be added to my own personal raised funds the next few months to,

•Pay for 1 to 1 lessons with Hyunjoon and the use of his rehearsal space. (Minimum 12 lessons maximum 18).

•Return Flight to Korea.

•Accomodation for the duration of my stay

•A weekly stipend for food.

I want to eventually create a original magic act that I will that ultimately I would tour all over the world with. 

In order to expand my knowledge as a performer I decided to study with

Hyunjoon Kin. 

Hyunjoon is a Korean two time F.I.S.M. winner. He is the longest working performer in Cirque du Soleil’s ”The Illusionists” and winner of the highest competition prize in magic, Blackpools ”The One.” No stranger to the stage I believed I would be able to learn something useful from him. 

After contacting Hyunjoon he recommended that in order to get the best out of this learning experience, I should study with him, in person, in Korea.

So I applied and was awarded a fund by the Arts Council of Northern Ireland for a project I titled ”Foundations with Hyunjoon Kim.” And thanks to this support in January 2025 I travelled for the first time to Korea. We had twelve, 2 and a half hour sessions together. And, I got to watch him performing a show live.

This time might seem like a lot of hours. However when I started the lessons, it was clear that we needed to begin from scratch. I knew very little about moving my body, the props, control. 

By the end of the twelve lessons we developed a rapport. I began to pick up things quicker and we really set the Foundations for future work to come. And more importantly we did not finish the routines we were working on. So it makes sense that I go back to finish the job. 

I’ve decided that the time to do this is this September 2025. 

But in order to do this, I need to raise the funds myself, through my own work. And I have just seven months to do so. 

The Government Funding I received for Foundations is one that I cannot apply for again (at least this next year). And the likelihood of more funding becoming available that I can apply for before the end of the year is very low.

So, I am asking you all for a little help. 

If you could support me to fund part of this journey to finish my work with Hyunjoon this September, I’d be so grateful. 

—

Nikola

https://gofund.me/161bd8b7